Hanna
Hanna is certainly
an odd project for director Joe Wright to undertake, given that he is most well
known for his costume dramas Pride and
Prejudice and Atonement, in
addition to The Soloist. His body
doesn’t clearly indicate that he has a future in directing action movies,
although after Hanna it is clear that
Wright not only succeeds with the more brawny aspects of the genre, but also
isn’t afraid to break from the mold and try new things.
Plot Synopsis: Trained
and brought up by her father and rogue CIA agent Erik in the snowy Finnish
forests all her life, Hanna yearns to break from her life of solitude and join
the rest of the world. Her father allows her to, but on the condition that she
alerts CIA agent Marissa Wiegler to their presence in order test her mentally
and physically within the real world. When Hanna escapes from custody, Marissa
sets out on a manhunt for the girl and possibly cover up a conspiracy from the
past.
As time goes by in Hanna,
it becomes certain that it is not the typical action movie that you may think
it is. While there are plenty of them to be found, the main focus of the plot
is Hanna’s journey into the real world on her own. In many ways, it is a unique
spin on the coming-of-age story, as she must adapt to the lifestyles and
customs of those brought up normally. The movie deftly combines the action with
her “awakening” in a manner that they are both integral to each other’s
progression.
And when the action arrives, it hits hard. Despite being
only PG-13, there is a surprising undercurrent of menace that runs through the
film, which adds to the seriousness of the story and the punch of the action.
One scene in particular, where Erik is tailed by Marissa’s men and fights them
in a subway tunnel, is filmed by Wright in one long take, which means that the
whole fight is shown in a single, choreographed sequence with no editing done.
The rest of them also succeed, and Saoirse Ronan, in spite
of her petite stature, is very convincing during the action because of her
intense and dedicated performance. Still, half the reason why most of the movie
works is in the music score from the Chemical Brothers. Much like Daft Punk’s
great score for Tron Legacy, it is
much more of an electronic soundtrack than an orchestral one, and the movie
feels like it has a real rhythm pulsating through every scene. Even now I can
recall many of the tracks in my head, and I’m sure I will remember them for a
while.
As I said before, Ronan commands the screen as the titular
Hanna, handling both the dangerous and innocent sides of the character with
equal skill. The rest of the cast doesn’t get nearly as much attention as her,
although Eric Bana (Erik) and Cate Blanchett (Marissa) get plenty of moments to
shine themselves. Blanchett is great as always with piercing, steel-eyed stare
adding another level of menace to Marissa’s hardened nature, but her and the
creepy henchman she employs don’t get as much development as they should.
In fact, the plot itself could’ve used some more development
too, as there were at least a few times where plot holes popped in, causing us
to wonder how “this character got there/found them” multiple times. It was
enough to bother me by the end because it seemed like many of these occurrences
happened simply to move things along faster towards the conclusion. And yet, I
still highly recommend Hanna because
I know there are many people out there who don’t notice these plot holes in
movies, in addition to the basis that the film has more to offer to audiences
through its distinctive style and equal focus on character and action.
3/4 Rating Criteria
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